Music Lessons

Piano or Guitar: Which Should You Learn First?

Choosing a first instrument? A comparison of piano and guitar for beginners on cost, difficulty, portability and how fast you will play a song.

Both are excellent first instruments. They are hard in different places.

Getting a sound

Piano wins. Press a key and you get a clean note. On guitar, your first weeks are spent making chords stop buzzing.

Playing a full song

Guitar wins. Four chords and a strum will carry a song you can sing along to within a month or two. On piano, coordinating two hands takes longer.

Understanding music

Piano wins. The notes are laid out in a line, low to high. Scales and chords are visible. This is why many teachers suggest piano for theory.

Cost and space

Guitar wins. A decent beginner guitar costs less than a keyboard with full-size weighted keys, and it hangs on a wall.

Portability

Guitar wins. It goes to the beach, the reunion, the rooftop. A piano stays home.

Playing with others

Guitar fits a jam or a barkada singalong naturally. Piano is wonderful for accompanying singers, if there is one in the room.

Physical comfort

Guitar hurts your fingertips at first. Piano does not, but it asks for good posture and hand position.

So, which?

• Choose guitar if you want to sing with friends soon, have little space, or are on a budget.
• Choose piano if you like structure, want to read music, or love the sound.
• Choose the one you will actually practise. The instrument in the house gets played.

Try before you buy

Borrow one for a week. If you want to hold a guitar before spending anything, ours are always out at the studio, and we can walk you through a first chord by arrangement. For structured piano or guitar courses, see music lessons in Marikina.